SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES ON FASHION MARKETING Alice Wilson

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES ON FASHION MARKETING

In the fashion industry, trends are constantly changing, and marketing is important in making consumers aware of these changes. Social media has more recently become a part of the fashion industry, which is seeing significant shifts in its inspiration for designs and trends due to the likes of Instagram, Tiktok and Pinterest.

While catwalks and magazines still remain a part of today’s fashion sphere, social media is starting to take over with its ability to spread at a rapid speed across countries. Out of Instagram’s total audience, 200 million users follow at least 1 fashion account and in Britain, 45% of people say they follow these accounts to find inspiration for their own looks, so it’s not surprising that brands focus on social media to reach their market. The ability to connect through shared interests on social media opens up a whole new world for marketing as they are not limited to a certain fashion preference, and it allows brands to actually think about the person they’re selling to. The innovation of social media has benefitted fashion marketing as now Instagram has recently launched ‘Instagram shopping’ where brands are able to tag their products in a post, therefore leading them to the chosen product so the consumer can purchase it quick and easy. Influencers have become massively important for fashion marketing and multiple fashion brands have started to use this strategy as creating a conversation around their brand is vital for success. Influencer marketing involves working with influential people, most of which have a high social media following such as Gigi Hadid who has partnered with multiple brands like Prada, Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger and most recently Ralph Lauren. With a total Instagram following of 67.6 million followers on Instagram, these partnerships will significantly increase the brands social reach and position them in Hadid’s fashion following. Seeing those we look up to wearing a specific outfit gives confidence to potential consumers wanting to buy what they are wearing. However, it isn’t essential for a brand to work with influencers to gain success, although their high exposure levels and number of followers will naturally help but, any exposure from any profile is good for the brand. Social media has influenced the fashion industry more than any other industry, and therefore affected brands fashion marketing. For the most part, fashion used to be a two-dimensional, one-sided industry as brands would put their clothing in magazines for users to flick through the pages and as models walked in fashion shows, users hoped that it would be covered on television for them to see. However, social media has reframed this structure as consumers can not only consume fashion but also contribute to it. With the rise in social media, new designers from around the world can get their own style out there for users to see and the connection between brands and consumers makes fashion marketing easier as social media is highly visual and there’s multiple platforms brands can use to advertise their clothing.